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Subject: C3S - Adjusting 10m SWR curve ?
Author: Marty Tippin <ki0lo@yahoo.com>
Date: 19-Jun-2001 11:24:34
Thanks for the reply, Guy - I admit my question wasn't all that
well formed (it's been on my mind for a while, but I just got
around to asking on the reflector...)

Measurement was made with a MFJ-259B at the transceiver end of
the feedline (about 75 ft overall), with no filters or anything
in between and a W2AU balun on the antenna. Feedline was
recently replaced (unrelated to this problem) but the same
problem was evident before feedline replacement, as well as at
the former antenna owner's QTH a few months ago. Antenna is less
than a year old.

As I indicated in another reply, I need to verify the length of
the 10m driven element - was hoping for the kind of information
you gave as well as any suggestions specific to the C3S since
it's a bit of a pain to get at the feedpoint and I don't want to
do it any more than necessary...

-Marty NW0L
martyt@pobox.com

--- "Guy Olinger, K2AV" <k2av@contesting.com> wrote:
> A great deal is missing from your post. Like where was it
> measured...at the antenna, with or without a balun, at the
> feedline with nothing with coax between you and antenna balun,
> through a low pass filter, through an amp and a low pass
> filter?
>
> Without knowing really what you are dealing with, some instant
> caveats, and comments aimed at the general audience, since
> this hasn't been posted for a while:
>
> Brand-new coax can be bad, bad, bad. Take any new length and
> run a dummy load on one end. Sweep it to twice the highest
> frequency you intend to use with an analyzer looking through a
> common mode choke. Or use a Bird and check it on all bands.
> Tape some paper to the coax with the result of the test and
> the date of purchase/date of test.
>
> A lot of low pass filters (most?) start to mess with swr on
> ten meters. This can be true even if the SWR is low into a
> dummy load.
>
> The common impedance analyzers (MFJ 259x, etc) are very
> susceptible to interference from strong signals nearby, and
> also can have problems with common mode current on coax when a
> common mode choke (eg, beads over coax type "balun") is NOT
> used between analyzer and coax.
>
> 50 watts of exciter power and a Bird type wattmeter does not
> suffer from the strong signal problem.
>
> The coax INSIDE an amp to and from it's changeover relay(s)
> can cause SWR anomalies (when the amp is off). The better
> engineered HF amps have a matching component or two to make
> the inside wiring flat on ten meters.
>
> Miscellaneous pieces of hookup coax in the shack can have
> anomalous behavior. This possibility increases as frequency
> goes up. I had a one foot RG8 jumper with PL259's on either
> end that was transparent on 80/40 meters. It was a 20 db block
> at 432 MHz. Never did understand WHY. But it definitely DID
> screw up 432.
>
> The **ONLY** (I repeat, **ONLY**) way to measure SWR without
> danger of antenna feedline SYSTEM cobbling the SWR and
> confusing the issue, is to measure AT THE ANTENNA with
> **NOTHING** (I repeat, **NOTHING**) in between. Any other
> setup requires careful snooping, with proper attention to
> possible strangeness in the feedline system. No assumptions
> allowed.
>
> In just the last several years I have seen EVERY SINGLE THING
> commonly stuck in a feedline, at one time or other, detected
> as a cause of an SWR difficulty originally blamed on the
> antenna, INCLUDING a brand-new Bird wattmeter (sent back to
> the factory and had the part that the slug fits into replaced,
> admittedly about as uncommon a problem as one could get).
>
> Hope some of this helped. Let us know what is *really* going
> on.
>
> 73 & GL, Guy.
>
> >
> > From: Marty Tippin <ki0lo@yahoo.com>
> > Date: 2001/06/19 Tue AM 10:26:19 EDT
> > To: Force12Talk@qth.com
> > Subject: [Force 12 Talk] C3S - Adjusting 10m SWR curve ?
> >
> > I have a C3S up and it works fine - only issue I have is
> that
> > the SWR is lowest at about 29MHz, rising to well over 2:1 at
> > 28.300.
> >
> > How can I adjust the point of lowest SWR on 10m without
> screwing
> > up the other bands? The parasitic nature of the driven
> elements
> > makes me think it's not as simple as adding a few inches to
> the
> > 10m driven.
> >
> > 15 and 20 are not bad - 20 shows acceptable SWR across the
> band,
> > and 15 is a little bit low but not worth worrying about.
> >
> > -Marty NW0L
> > martyt@pobox.com
> >
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> >
>
>
>
>


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This Thread
  Date   Author  
19-Jun-2001 Richard Thorne
19-Jun-2001 Guy Olinger, K2AV
* 19-Jun-2001 Marty Tippin
19-Jun-2001 gary.hosler@kodak.com
19-Jun-2001 Marty Tippin
19-Jun-2001 Guy Olinger, K2AV
19-Jun-2001 Richard Thorne
19-Jun-2001 Marty Tippin
This Author (Jun-2001)
  Subject   Date  
* C3S - Adjusting 10m SWR curve ? 19-Jun-2001
C3S - Adjusting 10m SWR curve ? 19-Jun-2001
C3S - Adjusting 10m SWR curve ? 19-Jun-2001